Dodd kicks off presidential campaign with Conn. rally

Dodd kicks off presidential campaign with Conn. rally

by News Channel 8's Mark DavisPosted Jan. 19, 20074:00 PM(Hartford-WTNH) _ For the first time since announcing his run for the White House, Senator Chris Dodd is back home in Connecticut. Dodd faces an uphill battle in a Democratic race that will likely include Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.Dodd's first presidential rally will be held Friday at the Old State House in Hartford. Some of the big names in Connecticut Democratic politics are lining up behind Dodd and say he has a real chance. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro is the national chairperson and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is the state chairman.Dodd is planning to spend the weekend in New Hampshire and said his campaign will depend heavily on Democrats in Connecticut."Who better knows me than the people of my own state? I want the operation to be based in Connecticut and I want people in Connecticut to be a part of this," said Dodd.One man he is depending on is former state party chairman John Droney. Droney was instrumental to Joe Lieberman's independent victory this past November."Chris Dodd is the only one who's really electable. If the Democrats want to win the presidency, they need someone like Dodd, not a polarizing figure that can win the nomination but not win the general election," said Droney.Droney is referring to Senator Hillary Clinton who already seems to be in a game of one upsmanship with Illinois freshman Senator Barack Obama. Both are getting the lion's share of the media coverage right now.Tom Ritter is a former Connecticut speaker of the house and is already signed up to help Dodd."These top two or three you mention are going to go out and try to kill each other, they're really going to be challenging each other and he may fly below the radar screen and what he'll do is he'll be a survivor of the first tier," said Ritter.Peter Kelly is a former Democratic national committeeman and party treasurer. Kelly has been heavily involved in national Democratic politics for decades."His limitation at this point is he's not known nationally but as we unwind the process people will make a decision as to who is electable and who is not electable and that's a specific reference," said Kelly.Dodd is scheduled to be at the Old State House at 6 PM to formally launch his presidential campaign.http://www.wtnh.com/global/story.asp?s=5963352